Message system, message creating method and message creating program

ABSTRACT

Attribute information representing at least one attribute of each member in a system is recorded on a card. The attribute information includes fixed information settled at the time of member registration and record-information which may be changed in accordance with performance of each member. A controller creates a message corresponding to the at least one attribute shown in the attribute information recorded on the card. A recorder writes the message created by the controller on the card.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.11/082,905, filed on Mar. 18, 2005 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,097,096, which inturn is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/084,047 filed onFeb. 28, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,883,703, and in turns claims priorityto JP 2001-054692, filed on Feb. 28, 2001, the entire contents of eachof which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a message system, a message creatingmethod and a message creating program, for creating a message suitablefor each member (in a predetermined organization, system, etc.) andproviding the created message to each member.

2. Description of the Related Art

As a tool for effectively managing registered members in a predeterminedsystem, etc., it is common to employ membership cards. The informationto be recorded on each membership card is only ID information (membernumber, member name, etc.) for identifying the member, usually. In otherwords, any other information corresponding to each member is notrecorded on the membership card. Further, the recorded information cannot be updated in accordance with the past records of each member'sperformance in a certain field.

Accordingly, the information to be recorded on the membership card isnot interesting information for each member. Thus, the membership carditself does not contribute to the sales improvement or keeping ofcustomers (members) in the system, or does not effectively function forsales performance.

Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. H11-120199discloses a technique for creating a message corresponding to individualmember and for providing each member with the created message.

The above publication does not disclose a technique for creating amessage based on user performance on a particular field. That is,according to the above publication, a message corresponding to the pastrecords of member's performance can not be created. In other words,according to the above publication, a message peculiarly correspondingto individual member can not be created. Thus, the user should not findsomething new in the message created according to the technique of theabove publication.

According to the technique of the above publication, the created messageis sent to a terminal device used by each user through a communicationsnetwork, so as to provide the user with the created message through theterminal device. Hence, in the above publication, no disclosureregarding a card to be issued to the registered user is made. Therefore,even if the technique of the above publication is used, the improvementin the sales performance or the keeping the customers (members) withinthe organization, etc. can not be realized, using the membership card.

The contents of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI PublicationNo. H11-120199 are herein incorporated in this specification.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above. It isaccordingly an object of the present invention to provide a messagesystem, a message creating method and a message creating program, forcreating a suitable message for each member in a predetermined system,organization, etc. and for providing each member with the createdmessage.

In order to attain the above object, according to the first aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided a message system comprising:

a message creator which creates a message corresponding to at least oneattribute of at least one member in a predetermined system, the at leastone attribute being shown in attribute information including fixedinformation settled at a time of registering the at least one member andrecord-information updated in accordance with performance of the atleast one member; and

a writer which writes the message created by the message creator on acard possessed by the at least one member.

According to this invention, a message suitably corresponding to eachmember can be created, and the created message can be provided to eachmember.

The message system may further comprise a memory which stores aword/phrase table storing a plurality of words/phrases for use increating the message, and

wherein the message creator acquires at least one word or phrasecorresponding to the at least one attribute of the at least one memberfrom the word/phrase table, and creates the message using the acquiredword or phrase.

The memory may further store a sentence including at least onenon-settled information portion wherein no word/phrase has been settledyet; and

the message creator may set the at least one word or phrase from theword/phrase table into the at least one non-settled information portionof the sentence, thereby creating the message.

The message system may further comprise

a table creator which creates the word/phrase table and stores thecreated word/phrase table into the memory.

The table creator may create the word/phrase table corresponding to achange in an external factor.

The external factor may be a date;

the message system may further comprise a date acquirer which obtains acurrent date; and

the table creator may create the word/phrase table corresponding to thecurrent date obtained by the date acquirer.

The message system may further comprise:

a recorder which records the attribute information of the at least onemember on the card possessed by the at least one member; and

an accumulator which accumulates the record-information included in theattribute information, and

wherein the recorder updates the record-information recorded on thecard, using latest record-information accumulated by the accumulator.

The message system may further comprise a reader which reads out theattribute information of the at least one member who possesses the card,from the card, and

wherein the message creator creates the message using the attributeinformation read out by the reader.

The writer may illustrate a drawing and/or illustration representingcontents of the message on the card, together with the message.

The message system may further comprise

an e-mail sender which sends an e-mail representing the message createdby the message creator to the at least one member.

In order to attain the above object, according to the second aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided a message creating methodcomprising the steps of:

creating a message corresponding to at least one attribute of at leastone member in a predetermined system, the at least one attribute beingshown in attribute information including fixed information settled at atime of registering the at least one member and record-informationupdated in accordance with performance of the at least one member; and

writing the created message onto a card possessed by the at least onemember.

In order to attain the above object, according to the third aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided a program for controlling acomputer to serve as a message system comprising:

a message creator which create a message corresponding to at least oneattribute of at least one member in a predetermined system, the at leastone attribute being shown in attribute information including fixedinformation settled at a time of registering the at least one member andrecord-information updated in accordance with performance of the atleast one member; and

a writer which writes the message created by the message creator on acard possessed by the at least one member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The object and other objects and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent upon reading of the following detaileddescription and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the structure of a message system accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of a card processor includedin the message system of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A to 3G are diagrams each showing information stored in a storageunit included in the card processor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a message providing process which iscarried out by a controller of the card processor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a word/phrase preparation process which iscarried out by the controller of the card processor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a diagram exemplarily showing the word/phrase preparationprocess carried out by the controller;

FIG. 7A is a diagram showing the structure of a recording card, andFIGS. 7B and 7C are diagrams each showing a state of the recording cardon which information is recorded;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagrams showing another example of information tobe recorded on the recording card;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another structure of the recording card; and

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a modification of attribute informationstored in the storage unit of the card processor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A message system according to an embodiment of the present inventionwill now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In this embodiment, explanations will be made to the case whereinmessages are recorded on a recording card issued to each student, who isa registered member of a preparatory educational institution, such as acoaching school or cramming school, etc.

The above-described message system comprises, as shown in FIG. 1, aplurality of recording cards 11, a card processor 13, a center device 15and a network N. The card processor 13 and the center device 15 areconnected with each other through the network N including a LAN (LocalArea Network).

The plurality of recording cards 11 are issued by the educationalinstitution to the students registered in the preparatory educationalinstitution.

Each of the plurality of recording cards 11 has one side (a messagerecording side 11A), on which visible information is recorded and erasedby heat, and the other side (a magnetic recording side 11B), on whichmagnetic information is recorded and updated.

A message corresponding to attributes of each student is recorded on themessage recording side 11A, and attribute information representing theattributes of each student is recorded on the magnetic recording side11B.

The attribute information includes information items representing astudent number (a membership number of each corresponding student), thestudent name, the student's class, the student's choice of school toapply to, the attendance, exam marks of each student and points acquiredby each student. Note that the points are calculated, based on theattendance of each student in classes and exam marks.

Of the above information items, information items representing thestudent number, the student name, the class and the student's choice ofschool to apply to are fixed information, which is settled and decidedat the time each student is to be registered at the educationalinstitution and which is not updated as long as the educationalinstitution or the corresponding student does not intend to do so. Onthe other hand, those information items representing the attendance, themarks and the points are record-information which are updated inaccordance with how each student does in the educational institution.

The card processor 13 has an insertion section 13A, and recordsinformation sent from the center device 15 through the network N on eachof the recording cards 11 inserted from the insertion section 13A. Thecard processor 13 updates information recorded on the inserted recordingcard 11. The structure of the card processor 13 will be described laterin more detail.

The center device 15 is a computer including an input device and adisplay device, etc., and is installed in the administrative office ofthe educational institution, for example. The center device 15 operatesa pre-given program, in response to an operation of an operator of theeducational institution.

For example, the center device 15 stores and manages fixed informationof each student in a database 15A. The center device 15 accumulates therecord-information of each student in the database 15A. The centerdevice 15 sends fixed information of a new student to the card processor13, together with a card-issuing signal for instructing the cardprocessor 13 to issue the recording card 11. In response to a requestfrom the card processor 13, the center device 15 sendsrecord-information of a student specified by the card processor 13, tothe card processor 13.

The structure of the card processor 13 will now specifically beexplained.

The card processor 13 comprises, as shown in FIG. 2, an input unit 21, acommunications unit 23, a storage unit 25, a card processing unit 27 anda controller 29.

The input unit 21 is operated by the operator of the educationalinstitution, for example. The input unit 21 outputs a signal forinstructing the controller 29 to start/finish a predetermined operationto the controller 29, in response to an operation of the operator.

The communications unit 23 is connected to the center device 15 throughthe network N. The communications unit 23 relays data communicationsbetween the controller 29 and the center device 15.

The storage unit 25 includes a hard disk, a ROM (Read Only Memory)and/or a RAM (Random Access Memory). The storage unit 25 stores aprogram for controlling operations of the controller 29. The storageunit 25 stores message information necessary for producing a messagerecorded on the recording card 11. The contents of the messageinformation will more specifically be described later.

The card processing unit 27 includes a magnetic storage unit 271 and athermal storage unit 273.

The magnetic storage unit 271 includes a magnetic head, records andreads information on and from the magnetic recording side 11B of therecording card 11, under the control of the controller 29. The magneticstorage unit 271 updates information recorded on the magnetic recordingside 11B of the recording card 11, under the control of the controller29.

The thermal storage unit 273 includes a thermal head, erases theinformation recorded on the message recording side 11A of the recordingcard 11, and writes new information thereon, under the control of thecontroller 29.

The controller 29 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executing theprogram stored in the storage unit 25. The controller 29 controlsoperations of each of the above-described units, in accordance with theprogram of the storage unit 25. Operations of the controller 29 will beexplained in more detail later.

Explanations will now be made to the message information stored in thestorage unit 25 of the card processor 13.

The message information includes information shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C,3D, 3E, 3F and 3G.

Information shown in FIG. 3A is attribute information 201.

The attribute information 201 represents attributes of a student whopossesses the recording card 11 inserted into the card processor 13.

Information shown in FIGS. 3B to 3D are word/phrase tables 211, 213 and215, respectively.

The word/phrase table 211 stores information representing “course name”,“scheduled beginning date”, “scheduled final date”, “place”, “scheduledstarting time” and “scheduled ending time” of courses to be held in eachclass of the educational institution, in association with each other.The same information is given to all students of the same class.

The word/phrase table 213 stores information representing “attendance”,“confirmation comment” and “watch-out comment”, in association with eachother. The “confirmation comment” and “watch-out comment” are given tothe students in accordance with the their attendance.

The word/phrase table 215 stores information representing “markinformation”, “notification comment” and “evaluation comment”, inassociation with each other. The “notification comment” and “evaluationcomment” are given to the students in accordance with their marks.

The information shown in FIGS. 3E and 3F are condition tables 221 and223.

The condition table 221 stores information representing “name” of eachtarget school to which students may be to apply and “entrance-exam date”of the school, in association with each other.

The condition table 223 stores information representing “remaining days”before the entrance exam and “encouraging comment” in association witheach other. Each of students is given with the encouraging comment inaccordance with the remaining days before the entrance exam.

Hereinafter, the condition table 221 is referred to as “entrance-examdate table 221”, while the condition table 223 is referred to as“encouraging-comment table 223”, in this specification.

Information shown in FIG. 3G is a message table 241.

The message table 241 stores the information representing “studentattributes” (including classes, attendance in classes, marks, points,and school to apply to) and “message” including non-settled informationportions, in association with each other. Those information items inbrackets are not settled yet, as shown in FIG. 3G. The non-settledinformation portions are defined in advance, so as to be settled inaccordance with attributes of each target student who is to receive acorresponding message.

For example, those non-settled information portions (to be includinginformation of “course name”, “beginning date”, “final date”, “place”,“starting time” and “ending time”), which are included in the messagecorresponding to one attribute “class” in the uppermost section of themessage table 241, are settled in accordance with the class of thecorresponding student which is specified by the attribute informationread out from the recording card 11.

Operations of a message system according to the embodiment of thepresent invention will now be explained.

Each applicant provides the preparatory educational institution with anapplication form, which is filled with required information, such ashis/her name, selected course name and school to apply to.

The operator of the educational institution operates the center device15, and inputs the required information in the provided application formin the center device 15. The operator inserts a new recording card 11into the card processor 13, and operates the center device 15 andinstructs the center device 15 to execute a predetermined registrationprocess.

In response to the instruction of the operator, the center device 15begins a registration process of the student in accordance with aprogram which is set in advance.

The center device 15 creates a new student number.

The center device 15 stores the created student number and the inputrequired information in the database 15A as fixed information, inassociation with each other. This realizes registration of the applicantas a new student in the preparatory educational institution.

Subsequently, the center device 15 sends fixed information of thenewly-registered student to the card processor 13, together with acard-issuing signal for instructing the card processor 13 to issue a newrecording card.

The controller 29 of the card processor 13 controls the card processingunit 27 to record the fixed information provided together with thecard-issuing signal on the recording card 11, in response to thecard-issuing signal from the center device 15.

Specifically, the controller 29 controls the magnetic storage unit 271to record attribute information of the newly-registered student on themagnetic recording side 11B of the recording card 11. Further, thecontroller 29 controls the thermal storage unit 273 to record the nameof the newly-registered student and his/her student number on themessage recording side 11A of the recording card 11. At the time thecard is issued, the record-information included in the attributeinformation is set into an initial state.

By the above processes, the recording card 11 is issued to thenewly-registered student, and the new student can take the courseprovided by the preparatory educational institution.

The operator of the educational institution inputs, into the centerdevice 15, the attendance information of each student after each classand the mark information of each student after each trial exam ismarked, for example.

The center device 15 retrieves the attendance information and markinformation which are input by the operator, and accumulates theretrieved information in the database 15A in association with thestudent number, as record-information of each student.

The recording card 11 issued to each student is inserted into the cardprocessor 13, every time the student attends the class of acorresponding course, for example.

The controller 29 of the card processor 13 performs the followingoperations in accordance with the program stored in the storage unit 25,upon insertion of the recording card 11.

The controller 29 controls the magnetic storage unit 271 to read outattribute information recorded on the magnetic recording side 11B of theinserted recording card 11, and stores the read attribute information inthe storage unit 25 as attribute information 201.

The controller 29 accesses the center device 15 through thecommunications unit 23, and acquires the latest record-information (theattendance, marks and so-far earned points) of a student specified bythe student number of the attribute information 201 from the centerdevice 15.

The controller 29 updates the record-information shown in the attributeinformation 201 stored in the storage unit 25, using the acquiredrecord-information.

After this, the controller 29 begins a message providing process shownin FIG. 4.

The controller 29 selects one record from a plurality of recordsincluded in the message table 241 stored in the storage unit 25 (StepS101).

The controller 29 determines whether a word/phrase table necessary forcreating a message of the selected record is stored in the storage unit25 (Step S102).

For example, in FIG. 3G, there is no word/phrase table showing the“remaining days” corresponding to one of the non-settled informationportions included in the lowermost record of the message table 241.

In the case where it is determined that the necessary table is stored inthe storage unit 25 (Step S102; YES), the controller 29 carries out alater-described step S104.

On the contrary, in the case where it is determined that the necessarytable is not stored in the storage unit 25 (Step S102; NO), thecontroller 29 carries out a later-described word/phrase preparingprocess, wherein a necessary word/phrase table is created (Step S103).

The controller 29 acquires words and/or phrases necessary for creatingthe message of the selected record, from the word/phrase tables storedin the storage unit 25 (Step S104).

For example, as in FIG. 3G, the attribute of the uppermost record of themessage table 241 is “class”. In the case where the uppermost record ofthe message table 241 is selected in the step S101, the controller 29refers to the attribute information 201 stored in the storage unit 25,and finds out the “class” of the corresponding student. In this case,the “class” is “A”. The controller 29 then acquires words and/or phrasesto fill up the non-settled information portions included in the messageof the selected record. Since the “class” is “A”, the controller 29acquires the words and/or phrases corresponding to the class “A”, fromthe word/phrase table 211 stored in the storage unit 25. In this case,the controller 29 acquires information representing the course name“summer special course”, the beginning date “July 12^(th)”, the finaldate “August 20^(th)”, the place “building G, room 5”, the starting time“8:00 am” and the ending time “3:00 pm”.

The controller 29 sets the acquired words into the non-settledinformation portions of the message, respectively (Step S105).

In the case, for example, where the “class” is “A”, the controller 29sets the course name “summer special course”, the beginning date “July12^(th)”, the final date “August 20^(th)”, the place “building G, room5”, the starting time “8:00 am” and the ending time “3:00 pm” into thenon-settled information portions of the message, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 3G, in the uppermost section of the message table 241,there is a message “(a course name) will be held in (place) from(beginning date) until (final date), and it starts from (starting time)to (ending time)”. Upon setting of the above-described acquired wordsinto the non-settled information portions, the message is completed,like “The summer special course will be held in Room 5 of Building Gfrom July 12^(th) until August 20^(th), and it starts from 8:00 am to3:00 pm”.

By executing the above procedures of the steps S101 to S105, a messageof one record is created.

After this, the controller 29 determines whether such procedures havebeen completed for the entire records included in the message table 241(Step S106).

In the case where it is determined that the above procedures have notbeen done for the entire records of the message table 241 (Step S106;NO), the controller 29 returns to the step S101, and executes the aboveprocedures of the steps S101 to S105 for any of non-executed records.

On the contrary, in the case where it is determined that the aboveprocedures of the steps S101 to S105 have been completed for the entirerecords of the message table 241 (Step S106; YES), the controller 29controls the thermal storage unit 273 to write the created message onthe message recording side 11A of the recording card 11 (Step S107) soas to complete the message providing process.

The controller 29 executes the above-described message providingprocess, and controls the magnetic storage unit 273 to record theattribute information 201 including updated record-information, on themagnetic recording side 11B of the recording card 11. By so doing, theattribute information recorded on the magnetic recording side 11B of therecording card 11 is updated.

The word/phrase preparing process will more specifically be explainedwith reference to FIG. 5.

For example, the message of the lowermost record of the message table241 is, as shown in FIG. 3G, “There is left (remaining days) before theentrance exam of (school name). (Encouraging comment)”. This messageincludes information (words/phrases) of “remaining days”, which maydiffer depending on an external factor (specifically the date/time).Hence, the word/phrase table including the “remaining days” needs to beupdated once a day.

The controller 29 keeps the current date and time, in accordance withthe program stored in the storage unit 25.

The controller 29 finds out the date (what date is today) the recordingcard 11 is inserted (Step S201). Explanations will now be made to thecase where the today's date is “Feb. 13, 2002”, by way of example.

As shown in FIG. 6, the controller 29 creates a new word/phrase table217, in the manner as will be explained later, based on the today's datefound out in the step S201, and the entrance-exam date table 221 andencouraging-comment table 223 which are both stored in the storage unit25.

The controller 29 secures a storage area for storing the newly-createdword/phrase table 217, in the storage unit 25 (Step S202).

The controller 29 selects one of the plurality of records included inthe entrance-exam date table 221 (Step S203).

Subsequently, the controller 29 acquires the corresponding school nameand the exam date from the selected record (Step S204).

The controller 29 obtains the remaining days before the exam date, basedon the today's date found in the step S201 and the exam date acquired inthe step S204 (Step S205).

After this, the controller 29 acquires an encouraging commentcorresponding to the obtained remaining days, from the encouragingcomment table 223 (Step S206).

The controller 29 stores the school name acquired in the step S204, theremaining days obtained in the step S205 and the encouraging commentacquired in the step S206 in association with each other so as to form asingle record, in the word/phrase table 217 of the storage unit 25 (StepS207).

Thereafter, the controller 29 determines whether the above procedures ofthe steps S203 to S207 have been done for the entire records of theentrance-exam date table 221 (Step S208).

In the case where the above procedures of the steps S203 to S207 havenot been performed for the entire records (Step S208; NO), thecontroller 29 returns to the procedure of the step S203, and executesthe above procedures of the steps S203 to S207 for any of non-executedrecords.

On the contrary, in the case where it is determined that the aboveprocedures of the steps S203 to S207 have been completed for the entirerecords (Step S208; YES), the controller 29 completes the word/phrasepreparing process.

Accordingly, the message corresponding to the attributes of each studentis recorded on the message recording side 11A.

As shown in FIG. 7A, the message recording side 11 is divided into aplurality of recording blocks 101, 103, 105 and 107. As shown in FIG. 7Bor 7C, the message corresponding to attributes of each student isrecorded in each of the blocks 101, 103, 105 and 107. In particular, asillustrated in FIGS. 7B and 7C, recorded are a message corresponding tothe fixed information of each student, such as his/her class, the schoolto apply to, etc., and a message corresponding to therecord-information, such as each student's attendance, marks in acorresponding course, etc.

According to the message system of this embodiment, a messagecorresponding to attributes (including the past records of his/herperformance) of each student (member) is recorded on the member'srecording card 11. The recorded message is updated every time therecording card 11 is inserted into the card processor 13. Thus, themembers can expect something new in the message recorded on theirrecording cards 11. If the contents of the message correspond to theattributes (including the past records of his/her performance) of eachmember, the recording card 11 itself can be effective for improving thesales of target product items, services, etc. or for keeping customersinterested in the target items, etc.

Since the date changes once a day, it is sufficient enough to create theword/phrase table 217 once a day as well. Thus, the controller 29 may becreated at a predetermined time (e.g. one hour before a class begins)every day. By this, at the time the message providing process is tostart, all word/phrase tables necessary for forming up a predeterminedmessage will have already been stored in the storage unit 25. Hence, theprocedures of the steps S102 and S103 included in the message providingprocess are not required.

The above-described external factor does not have to be the date/time,and may include some factor that each member or the member's institutioncan't control. For example, the external factor may be the weather,traffic jam, political situation or economy conditions, or the like. Inthis case, the words/phrases of the word/phrase table need to be changedmany times a day, in accordance with a change in the external factors.To do this, the controller 29 may acquire the latest information ofexternal factors from a server on the Internet, etc., through thenetwork N. The controller 29 may execute the message providing processshown in FIG. 4 using the acquired latest information, thereby creatingthe word/phrase table corresponding to the change in the externalfactors.

The controller 29 may control the thermal recording unit 273 to recordillustrations, drawings, etc. representing the contents of a message onthe recording card 11, together with the message, as shown in FIGS. 8Aand 8B.

The structure of the recording card 11 is arbitrary. For example, asshown in FIG. 9, the message recording side 11A and the magneticrecording side 11B may be prepared on the same side.

An IC card, which includes the message recording side 11A on one sidethereof and a contact electrode one the one side or the other sidethereof, may be employed as the recording card 11.

The message recording method is arbitrary, as long as visible messagecan repeatedly be recorded on the card.

It is not limited that the recording card 11 is issued by theabove-described preparatory educational institution, as long as thevisible message can repeatedly be recorded thereon. For example, therecording card 11 may be a ticket, a prepaid card or a membership card,etc., that can be used many times and issued by a sports-gym, a library,a theater, a hospital, or the like.

The recording of the message on the recording card 11 is not the onlyone message providing method.

For example, as shown in FIG. 10, an e-mail address of the member whopossesses the recording card 11 may be included in the attributeinformation recorded on the recording card 11. The controller 29 maysend the created message to the e-mail address shown by the attributeinformation read out from the recording card 11, through thecommunications unit 23. By so doing, the member can receive messagescorresponding to his/her attributes (including the past records of howhe/she has done in a particular field), through e-mails.

Furthermore, the controller 29 may send the created message to thee-mail address shown in the attribute information, and record thecreated message onto the recording card 11, likewise the above.

The attribute information may include various kinds of information,other than the above information. For example, in the above example ofthe preparatory educational institution, the attribute information mayinclude a mark or ranking on a trial exam of each student. Further, inaccordance with the field employing the present invention, the attributeinformation may include any of the following information items of “workplace”, “school”, “post at work place”, “type of job”, “means for goingto work place or school”, “hobby”, “health”, “age”, “occupation”, “sex”,“address”, “body shape”, “income”, “married or unmarried”, “eyesight”,“family”, “purchase history (preference in brand, quantity, frequency,category, etc.)”, “music”, “magazine/newspaper”, “birthday”, “bloodtype”, “zodiac”, “favorite singer/actor/actress”, and “purchasedproducts”.

The message contents may be some kind of announcement, sales promotion,service message, personal message service, and/or step-up displaycharacter, etc.

For example, the announcement may include a want ad, seasonal serviceinformation, event information, CI information, or information about astore, etc. The contents of the sales promotion may include introductionof new products or introduction of frequently-sold products. Thecontents of the service message may include, for example, apoint-earning service, a coupon service or medical services, etc. Thecontents of the personal message service may include some celebratingmessage (including birthday, anniversary celebration) or advice.

It is not necessary that the entire attribute information be recorded onthe recording card 11. For example, in the case where the recording card11 does not have enough capacity for recording the entire attributeinformation, only ID information (e.g. member number) for identifyingthe member may be recorded on the recording card 11. In this case, thestorage unit 25 of the card processor 13 or the center device 15 maystore the entire attribute information, instead. The controller 29 mayacquire the attribute information from the storage unit 25 or the centerdevice 15, based on the ID information read out from the recording card11.

In the above embodiment, the description of the present invention hasbeen made to the case where the card processor 13 and the center device15 are connected with each other through the network N. However, thecard processor 13 and the center device 15 may be connected directlywith each other, so as to be incorporated together.

The system of the present invention can be realized by a generalcomputer, without the need for a dedicated system. A program and datafor controlling a computer to execute the above-described processes maybe recorded on a medium (a floppy disk, CD-ROM, DVD or the like) anddistributed, and the program may be installed into the computer and runon an OS (Operating System) to execute the above-described processes,thereby achieving the system of the present invention. The above programand data may be stored in a disk device or the like in the server deviceon the Internet, and embedded in a carrier wave. The program and dataembedded in the carrier wave may be downloaded into the computer so asto realize the system of the present invention.

Various embodiments and changes may be made thereonto without departingfrom the broad spirit and scope of the invention. The above-describedembodiment is intended to illustrate the present invention, not to limitthe scope of the present invention. The scope of the present inventionis shown by the attached claims rather than the embodiment. Variousmodifications made within the meaning of an equivalent of the claims ofthe invention and within the claims are to be regarded to be in thescope of the present invention.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-054692filed on Feb. 28, 2001, and including specification, claims, drawingsand summary. The disclosure of the above Japanese Patent Application isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

1. A message system comprising: a message table memory that stores a message table including an attribute column indicating an attribute and a corresponding message column storing message data for each attribute indicated in the attribute column; a word/phrase table memory that stores plural word/phrase tables each containing words and phrases corresponding to a respective attribute indicated in the attribute column in the message tables, and a sentence including at least one non-settled information portion wherein no word/phrase has been settled yet; an attribute obtainer that obtains the attribute of a member; a word/phrase selector that selects words or phrases corresponding to the obtained attribute from the word/phrase tables; a message creator that sets at least one word or phrase selected from the word/phrase tables into the non-settled information portion in the word/phrase of the sentence, thereby creating a message; and a message output that outputs the created message.
 2. The message system according to claim 1, further comprising: a recorder that records the attribute information of the at least one member on a card possessed by the at least one member.
 3. The message system according to claim 2, wherein: said attribute obtainer obtains the attribute information by reading out the attribute information of the at least one member who possesses the card, from the card.
 4. The message system according to claim 1, wherein: said message output sends an e-mail representing the message created by said message creator.
 5. A message creating method comprising: providing a message table memory including a message table including an attribute column indicating an attribute and a corresponding message column storing message data for each attribute indicated in the attribute column; providing a word/phrase table memory including plural word/phrase tables each containing words and phrases corresponding to a respective attribute indicated in the attribute column in the message tables, and a sentence including at least one non-settled information portion wherein no word/phrase has been settled yet; obtaining the attribute of a member; selecting words or phrases corresponding to the obtained attribute from the word/phrase tables; setting at least one word or phrase selected from the word/phrase tables into the non-settled information portion in the word/phrase of the sentence, thereby creating a message; and outputting the created message.
 6. The message creating method according to claim 5, further comprising: recording the attribute information of the at least one member on a card possessed by the at least one member.
 7. The message creating method according to claim 6, wherein: said obtaining the attribute obtains the attribute information by reading out the attribute information of the at least one member who possesses the card, from the card.
 8. The message creating method according to claim 5, further comprising: sending an e-mail representing the created message. 